Pokémon-tracking apps rise to the top of App Store
Pokémon Go isn't the only Pokémon app at the top of the App Store.
Nintendo's game has sat at the No. 1 spot in Apple's App Store since it launched earlier this month but now two other Pokémon apps have joined it at the top of the charts: Poke Radar and Helper for Pokémon Go, both Pokémon-locating apps.
The premise of these apps is fairly simple, though they could be crucial for the committed Pokémon Go player. The apps promise to help players find Pokémon in their immediate surroundings and could make it easier to find some of the rarer characters. Both apps take the crowd-sourced approach with players logging the locations of Pokémon they find on a map, which other players can then use as a resource when out looking for more Pokémon.
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Mapping Pokémon
Poke Radar, which reached the No. 2 spot in the U.S App Store (it's sitting at No. 4 at the time of this writing) just two days after it launched, also allows users to upvote or downvote submissions as a form of quality control. For each character on the map, you can see which trainer posted it and whether other players have rated the tip as helpful.
The app is far from perfect and is iOS only for now (the app's developer says an Android version is coming soon, though Android users can currently use the web-based version) but it can be particularly helpful if there's a specific hard-to-find Pokémon you're after. The app allows you to search the map by individual Pokémon so you can see areas all over the world where others have found them.
Experience may vary
Another app, Helper for Pokémon Go, is currently sitting at the No. 2 position in Apple's App Store, according to iTunes. But that app appears to be far less developed than Poke Radar (and has an average rating of less than two stars.) We couldn't find many Pokémon listed near us in San Francisco in the app but you may have more luck, depending on your location. Of course, just because one trainer found a particular Pokémon in a spot doesn't mean everyone else will have the same luck, but it's definitely a good place to start.
Given that we're still only a couple weeks out from the official launch of Pokémon Go (and it's still gradually rolling out to more countries) it may be more impressive that two third-party companion apps have already launched and cracked the App Store's top 10.
It's also yet another sign of just how much Pokémon Go has managed to dominate the App Store. Numbers released last week by app analytics company Sensor Tower suggested that people are spending more time in Nintendo's mobile game than Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. And while it's too early to tell whether Pokémon-tracking "helper" apps will survive as its own category, they definitely could provide an extra boost to some players.
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Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
